A Surprise Delight at Bushy Park, North Is., New Zealand
A Treasure Trove of Native Plants and Birds
March, 2016
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After our day trip on the <../WhanganuiR/index.html>Whanganui River,
we drove on down the river to the town of the same name.
We arrived there late in the day,
but continued on and headed west.
We were looking for a place to camp or an inexpensive B&B type place.
As we were driving along I saw a sign that said something like
"explore off the beaten trackk, visit Bushy Park."
I had no idea what Bushy Park was,
but decided to head up that way anyway.
As we drove along we passed well-maintained farms
through country that reminded me of Kentucky horse country,
and I decided we were probably not likely to find anything we could afford.
Sure-enough, we came to
Bushy Park proper,
an imposing manor from a bygone era.
It was late in the day
and it seemed an unlikely place for us to spend the night,
but we screwed up our courage, entered, and inquired anyway.
I don't remember what our room cost,
but we managed to afford it.
More importantly,
as we discovered the next day,
Bushy Park has a small but well-preserved native forest
with a wide variety of native plants and
therefore better opportunities to also see native birds.
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Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) in farm country
Photo by Dona |
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| Bushy Park |
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| Bushy Park |
Bushy Park had a good selection of trails winding through it,
with many signs describing the flora along the way.
Some were well-weatheredd and difficult to read,
and some were out of sync with their surroundings due to plants growing or dieing off over the years;
but we appreciated them regardless.
Bushy Park had some nice old specimens of
Northern Rata,
reaching a height of up to 40m.
This far surpasses the 25m height the
New Zealand Department of Conservation
attributes to the tree.
These trees have escaped "Death by Possum"
and "Death by Agriculture" (when the native forest was cleared to make farms).
In its native environment,
most Rata trees start from aerial seeds lodging above ground in other trees;
the tree then extends aerial roots downward around the host tree,
fusing with it and forming a twisted, gnarly trunk.
The host tree eventually dies of old age
leaving a Rata with a hollow center.
Thanks to their twisted, entwined structure and hollow center
Rata are particularly valuable as a wildlife tree.
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| Northern Rata (Metrosiderous robusta) |
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Flower Rata
Photo by Dona |
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Pukeko (Porphyrio melanotus)
Photo by Dona |
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Saddleback (Philesturnus corunculatus)
Photo by Dona |
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| Robin (Petroica Australis) |
North Island Robin (P.a. longipes)
Photo by Dona |
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New Zealand Kingfisher (Halcyon sancta vagans)
Photo by Dona |
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| Fuchsia |
Miro |
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| Hen Chickens |
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| New Zealand Honeysuckle (Rewarewa Knightia Excelsa) |
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| Supplejack (Kareao) (Ripogonum Scandens) |
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| Xxx Blue Beetle |
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| Pukatea |
Pigeonwood (Porokaiwhiri) |
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| Tawa (Beilschmiedia Tawa) |
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| Lacebark (Houhere) |
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| Pepper Tree (Kawakawa) (Macropiper Excelsum) |
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| Silver Fern (Ponga) (Cyathea Dealbata) |
We left Bushy Park and headed over towards
Teranaki Volcano,
otherwise known as Mt. Egmont.
The weather forecast wasn't great,
but it was so unpredictable we thought we should give it a try.
Unfortunately, we were disappointed,
and only got brief glimpses of its peak rising above the clouds.
So we crossed out fingers.
One of the main things we wanted to do on the North Island
was for me to have the opportunity to hike the
Tongariro Alpine Crossing.
We'd put it off once already, and we only had so much time.
So we headed back east towards
Tongariro National Park.
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| Mt. Egmont |
Road To Tongariro |
We took a different route,
hoping to see interesting things along the way.
It turns out we had unknowingly chosen the
Forgotten World Highway.
In any case, it was another fun, long and winding road.
We found some huge Yucca plants,
and some roadside dolls drinking beer
near the
Whangamomona Hotel.
Apparently there was a rearrangement of regional boundaries in 1989
with the goal of having locations in the same watershed all be in the same region.
A pretty sensible idea I would say,
especially compared to the stupid straight lines dividing many U.S. states.
In any case, the people of
Whangamomona
objected,
declared themselves an independent republic,
and now party on on what they call Republic Day.
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| Flower Xxx Flax Yucca |
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| Roadside Dolls Drinking Beer |
Whangamomona Hotel |
The Forgotten World Highway goes through more sparsely settled country,
similar to the road from Napier to Pipiriki.
It would be a great place for a bike trip,
and apparently there are a number of cycling shops that offer them.
Looking down into some of the valleys we could see abandoned railroad tracks,
although some of them aren't really abandoned but are now used for short sightseeing tours.
I think you can book one in Whangamomona.
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| View from Forgotten World Highway |
We drove up and over several passes, and through the Moki Tunnel.
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| Tracks |
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| Moki Tunnel on the Forgotten World Highway |
This highway had many prime examples of the absurd speed limit postings
on New Zealand roads...
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| Yeah... right. |
Eventually we arrived at
Tongariro National Park
and found our way to a campsite in a slow drizzle.
